Abstract

Little is known about the types of coping strategies activated by clients suffering from distressing hallucinatory voices and even less about models of coping. This study categorises those coping approaches as distraction, focusing or metacognitive and reports on their frequency in a community sample of voice hearers using thematic analysis. A non-engagement style was found to be predominant and this was linked to coping by distraction and the use of safety behaviours. This study suggests that coping strategies naturally utilised by voice hearers tend to be of limited benefit and may perpetuate the voice hearing experience. It is suggested that hearing voices groups, mental health and CBT training programmes need to stress the importance of voice hearers moving towards focusing and metacognitive styles of coping.